Car-haulage plant.



I F. W. LOVELL.

GAR HAULAGE PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1913,

1,125,354. Patented Jan.19,1$ )15.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

+4 [M I ryzmlg xiwm F. W. LOVELL.

CAR HAULAGE PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED snmxzv, 1912.

1,125,354. Patented Jan. 19, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

flgfiedded V frwverzfofi 4/00 Wdz I r? I THE NORRIS PETERS C0,, P14070411140 WASHINGTON. n, C.

TED STATES PATENT t me.

FREDERICK W. LovELL, or" CLEVELAND, onto, assrenon TO THE MCMYLERINTER,-

STATE company, on CLEVELAND, oHro, A coaPonATIon or onto.

CAR-HAULAGE PLANT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latented Jan. 13, EH5.

Applicatiqn filed September 2?, 19,1 3. Serial No. 792,165.

v a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland. in the countyof Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Car-Haulage Plants, of which the followingv is a full,clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to car haulage plants of the general type used inconnection with the variouskinds of car handling apparatus, such as cardumpers.

At the present time, loaded cars are brought up onto the cradle of acardumper, the approach to the car dumper being usually upwardly inclined,by a haulage car adapted to be moved by a suitable haulage cable along anarrow ga ge haulage track arranged betweenthe rails of the main trackand terminating in a pit arranged a suitable distance in advanceof thecar dumper approach. The haulage car is run into the pit when it isdesired that a loaded car he moved forward to a point in advancethereof, so that when the haulage car is removed from the pit, it willbe at the rear of and can thence push the car up onto the cradle of thecar dumper. This system while satisfactory in some respects, does notadmit of the most advantageous handling of the cars, for it is obviousthat a loaded car can not be spotted, that is, brought to a position inadvance of the pit, until after the haulage car is in the pit. It isespecially disadvantageous in those systems wherein the loaded cars arerun by gravity down an inclined portion of the track to the base of thecar dumper approach, for the reason that it is often the case that thecars cannot be stopped on the incline in their descent until after theypass the pit. 7 Hence, it necessary, or at least advisable, to start acar down the incline only after the haulage car is in the pit. Thisresults in loss of time in the shifting of the cars.

The object of the present invention is to provide a haulage system whichwill enable the cars to be handled in a more economical manner, and insuch a way as to avoid the delays incident to the shifting of the cars,with the haulage plants generally in use at h p s nt me In the carhaulage plant which I have deuised, a haulage track is located adjacentand'nre rably enea h th man trash an the haulage car is provided with amovable pusher device'or arm which can be moved to a position such as toengage an appropriate part of the car to be moved, or can be swung toanother position such that the haulage car as a wholemay pass acarstanding on the main track.

The present invention resides particularly in means for shifting orcontrolling the movement of the pusher device or arm, and in the generalarrangement of parts by which the objects of this invention are attained.

My invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certainnovel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of partswhich will be described in the specification and set forth in theappendcd'claims' In the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein I haveshown one embodiment of my invention adapted to be employed inconnection with a car damper, Figure 1 is a side view on a reducedscale, showing the approach to a car dumpe'r and a portion of the trackleading thereto, and showing also the haulage car in the act of moving acar up al'ong's'aid car dumper approach; Fig. 2 is a plan view on anenlarged scale showing a portion of the main track, a portion of'thehaulage car track, and the haulage car embodying my invention; Fig. 3 isa partial longitudinal sectional view substantially along the line 3 -3of Fig. 2, showing the haulage car in side elevation with the tiltablearmelevated to operable position, and showing by dotted lines the arm inits lowered position, or in the position which it occupies when thehaulage car is moving rearwardly; Fi g. i is a transverse sectional viewthrough the main track, haulage track and haulage car substantiallyalong the line 4-4; of 3; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View throughthe haulage car substantially alongthe line 5 5 of Fig. 3, looking inthe direction indicated by the arrow.

In the drawings, 10 is an elevated and inclined track which may be theinclined approach to a car dumper which is not shown. At the base of theinclined part 10 there is a short horizontal section 11 to which theears may move gravity, down the inclined section 12 in a mannerpreviously stated.

Arranged between the rails of the main ear and-a ssialel d seas be w hsame throughout its length the same uniform distance below the maintrack, but it is essential that it be sufliciently below the main trackthatthe haulage car with its pusher arm lowered may pass beneath and tothe rear of the main car to be moved, at that part of the track wherethe main car will stand. after being brought to the position to beengaged and shifted by the haulage car. The haulage car which is adaptedto be run along the haulage car track, is designated as a whole by thereference character 14. This haulage car, as will be seen by referenceto Figs. 2, 3, 41- and 5, includes a suitable frame 15 composed oflongitudinal side members 16 and suitable cross members to be referredto presently, all of which may be formed of structural material,together with axles 17 supported in suitable bearings carried by theframe, and track wheels 17 secured to the ends of the axles.

Depending from the side frame members 15 between the front and rearwheels and nearer the former than the latter, are bearing plates 18 inwhich is supported a short distance above the rails of the haulagetrack, a transversely extending shaft 19, on which is pivotallysupported a rather long pusher arm or ram 20, which is supported nearits rear end and projects forwardly beyond the forward end of thehaulage car a considerable distance, as shown in several figures of thedrawing. This arm 20 is mounted so that it may be swung upwardly to aposition such that its forward end 21 will be at a suitable height toengage an appropriate part of the main car shown at 22, in Fig. 1, to bemoved by the haulage car, and so that it may be swung downwardly to theposition shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, below the level of the maintrack or at least to a certain position with reference thereto, that thehaulage car as a whole may move .rearwardly or backwardly beneath thecar 92 which is in position to be hauled up the inclined approach. Themajor portion of this arm 20 may be formed of structural material, asshown more particularly in Fig. 5, wherein it is shown as composed ofside plates and top and bottom channels forming ahollow. beam, and therear end of the arm 20 is a counterweight 23, so arranged and of suchsize as to substantially counterbalance the weight of the forward end ofthe arm, the arm being thereby substantially balanced on the pivotalsupport 19. This arm 20 which is located and adapted to swing in thelongitudinal center plane of the haulage car is guided at the forwardend of the latter by a pair of vertical parallel guide members 24-,suitably supported from the side members of the main frame 15 and spacedapart so that the arm may move freely up or down between the same, butwill nevertheless be prevented from having any material sidewisemovement. At the rear end of the haulage car, the side members 16 of thecar frame are connected together by suitable cross members 25 and at theforward end of the frame, the side members are connected together by alower cross member 26, and by an upper arched cross member 27, themembers 26 and 27 being so arranged or located that they will not interfere with the necessary swinging movement of the arm 20, eitherupwardly or downwardly. To limit the swinging movement of the arm inboth directions, the front guides 24 are provided with forwardlyprojecting plates 28 provided with slots 29 into which project the endsof a cross member 30 secured to the pusher arm 20. The length of theslots is such as to permit the desired movement in either direction.

The car is adapted to be moved forwardly up the haulage track byhoisting mechanism, including a cable 31, which at its rear end isconnected to links 32 mounted on the central part of the shaft 19, asshown particularly in Figs. 3 and 5. The cable extends forwardly up toand around a suitable sheave at the forward end. of the haulage track,andthence in this case passes rearwardly around an idler sheave and to adrum on which the cable is adapted to be wound. In order that such ahaulage car may be effectively used to haul a car up the track, I haveprovided mechanism which at the beginning of the forward movement of thecar immediately swings the arm 20 to its upper position, and at thebeginning of the rearward movement of the car immediately causes the armto swing downward to its lower position. I accomplish this result in avery effective manner by friction mechanism actuated by the haulage car,and including two members 35 which are mounted on and frictionallyengage a drum 36, which is secured to and rotates with the rear axle,this being shownmost clearly in Fig. 1-. These friction members 35 arepivotally connected together by a pin 36 and diametrically opposite thepin, are pulled yieldingly toward each other and onto the drum by aspring 37, which surrounds a bolt passing through outstanding ears ofthe two members 35. Between the friction members and the drum 36 is asuitable lining of asbestos or other suitable frictional material. Inconsequence, when the haulage car is movingforwardly, the frictionmembers 35 will tend of course to rotate with the same, and turn in acounter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, but when the car ismoved rearwardly, these members tendto turn in a clockwise direction. Inorder that these friction members may be utilized to swing the armupwardly or rearward-1y, they are connected to the 'rear end of thecounterweight by means oflinks 38, which are'located alongside thecounterweight and at their upper'ends are pivotally connected to thelatter, and at their lower ends are pivot ally connected to the pin 36just referred to.

In the haulage plant arranged and constructed in accordance with. myinvention,

the haulage car may run down the tracks and may pass beneath and to therear of a car to be hauled up the inclined approach, the pivoted arm 20then being of course lowered. However, when the haulage car is movedforwardly by the cable 28, the friction members 35 at first turn withthe axle, and in consequence, pull downwardly the counterweight andswing the forward end of the armQO to upright position and maintain itin that position as long as the haulage car is moving forwardly, anduntil it starts in the reverse direction, for even though the car may bestopped, the arm will not swing downward until actual movement in areverse direction is started. As soon, hbwever, as the haulage carstarts to move rearwardly, the arm swings to the position shown bydotted lines, or to the position such that the haulage car as a wholemay pass beneath a car standing on the main track.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adja cent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable device carried by said haulage car and adapted to be moved to aposition such that it will engage a car on the main track and to aposition such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the maintrack, means for moving the haulage car, and means carried by thehaulage car for automatically shifting said device when the haulage caris moved.

In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable device carried by said haulage car and adapted to be moved to aposition such that it will engage a car on the main track and to aposition such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the maintrack, and means carried by the haulage car and controlled by themovement of the latter for shifting said device.

3. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adj acent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable car pusher device carried by said haulage car and adapted to bemoved to a position such that it will. engage a car on the main track,or to a position such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car onthe main track, and means comprising a friction device carried by thehaulage car for shifting said device.

l. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable device carried by said haulage car and adapted to be moved to aposition such that it will engage a car on the main track, or to aposition such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the maintrack, and means for shifting said device comprising a rotary part onthe car and means frictionally engaging the same and operativelyconnected to said device. i

5. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a haulagetrack adjacent the main track, a haulage car on said haulage track, amovable device carried by said haulage car and adapted to be moved to aposition such that it will engage a car on the main track, or to aposition such that the haulage car as a whole may pass a car on the maintrack, a member operatively connected to said device for moving thesame, and means on the car for automatically moving said member in onedirection or the other, depending on the direction of movement of thecar.

6. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a trackfor a haulage car extending beneath the main track, a haulage car onsaid haulage track having a movable pusher arm adapted to move up wardlyto a position to engage a car on the main track and to move downwardlyso that said haulage car may pass beneath a car on the main track, meansfor moving the haulage car, and means carried by the haulage car forshifting the arm.

7. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a trackfor a haulage car extending beneath the main track, a haulage car onsaid haulage track having a movable pusher arm adapted to move upwardlyto a position to engage a car on the main track and to move downwardlyso that said haulage car may pass beneath a car on the main track, andmeans carried by the haulage car and controlled by the direction ofmovement of the latter for shifting the pusher arm.

8. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a trackfor a haulage car extending beneath the main track, a haulage car onsaid haulage track having a movable pusher arm adapted to move upwardlyto a position to engage a car on the main track and to move downwardlyso that said haulage car may pass beneath a car on the main track, andmeans comprising a friction device carried by the car for shifting saidpusher arm.

9. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a trackfor a haulage car extending beneath the main track, a haulage car onsaid haulage track having a movable pusher arm adapted to move upwardlyto a position to engage a car on the main track and to move downwardlyso that said haulage car may pass beneath a car on the main track, andmeans for shifting said pusher arm comprising a rotary part on the car,and means frictionally en-' gaging the same and operatively connected tothe pusher arm.

10. In a car haulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a trackfor a haulage car extending beneath themain track, a haulage car on saidhaulage track having a movable pusher arm adapted to move upwardly to aposition to engage a car on the main track and to move downwardly sothat said haulage car may pass beneath a car on the main track, a memberoperatively connected to said pusher arm for moving the same, and meanson the car for. moving said member in one direction or the other,depending on the direction of movement of the car.

11. In a carhaulage plant, a main track for a car to be moved, a trackfor a haulage car beneath the same, a haulage car on said haulage trackprovided with a pivoted pusher arm projecting forwardly beyond the carand adapted to be swung upwardly into the path of the car to be moved,or downwardly so that the pusher car may pass beneath the car to bemoved, and means for swinging the arm upwardly or downwardly comprisinga friction drum on one axle of the pusher car, and a movable frictiondevice surrounding the drum and having an operative connection with thearm.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto ailix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

Witnesses:

L. 1. Portrait, A. F. KWIS.

Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

